Anime You May Have Missed: Odd Taxi

Picture this: An anime with a lottery winner, a bank heist, the yakuza, a gacha game player out for blood, and idol girls. Sounds good, right? There’s just one more thing you need to know: All the characters are animals.

SPOILER] LIST OF (ALL) SENSIBLE CONJECTURES - Forums - MyAnimeList.net(Photo: OLM / P.I.C.S.)

Odd Taxi is an anime everybody should be talking about. Coming off from the Spring 2021 season, OT is being praised among anime circles. It’s smart, funny, deceptive, and only 13 episodes. Sit down with some friends and binge it all in one go, you won’t be disappointed.

The main character Odokawa is a taxi driver who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The center of a missing person’s case, he wraps himself up in a situation a little too big for his whiskers. As the story unfolds, we meet characters who enter Odokawa’s taxi and become a part of the plot.

At first, Odd Taxi feels like a dark humor series about a man driving around a bizarre cast of characters with no true connection besides Odokawa’s taxi. The beginning meanders slowly, pacing itself and setting all of its pawns up. By the halfway point, we see how most of the characters are connected, and in the final episode, the whole picture becomes clear. The payoff is outstanding, and the final twist of the series still had me buzzing weeks later.

You Really Should Check Out Odd Taxi(Photo: OLM / P.I.C.S.)

Odokawa is smarter than he looks, faster than he claims, and more devious than any sly fox despite being a walrus. Each of the characters are more than they appear and hold surprisingly a lot of complexities for talking cats and porcupines. There is a sense that the series is the viewer dropping in on a wild event in their lives, not that they are viewing their whole existence. The cast had lives before Odd Taxi and they will continue to grow after the events of the series.

Though expertly crafted, Odd Taxi isn’t from a veteran, but from a newcomer! The debut work from director Baku Kinoshita, Odd Taxi is brought to life by the studio OLM, best known for its work with the Pokémon franchise.

Whether you are a newcomer to anime or a veteran, Odd Taxi is worth the watch for fans of whodunits, heist movies, and heavy cast series like Baccano!. And with only 13 episodes, it’s a breeze to get through!

Odd Taxi is available to watch on Crunchyroll with or without a subscription.


About Teresa Navarro

Teresa Navarro is a writer and podcaster. One half Neopets aficionado, one half opinion haver, Teresa always has something to say about anime, movies, music, and video games. You can find them on Twitter at @vicunad or listen to their voice on Author's Note: Don't Like, Don't Listen.

View all posts by Teresa Navarro

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